THE ROLE OF NUMERICAL ANALYSIS IN AN UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

hearts. It should be obvious that the engineers and other nonmajors are primarily interested in the application of mathematics, and not in its structure. The best of the nonmajors will apply mathematical analysis in their professions. A large number of the less gifted, particularly among the engineers, will face a considerable number of computations in their future work, and this may represent the main future use of their mathematical background. And our majors, where are they bound? One wishes in vain that all the best of them would either teach high school or take graduate work. Of those who attain the Ph.D., about half go into industry and apply mathematics in various areas. Almost all of them will be connected to some degree with automatic computation. But the majority of our undergraduate mathematics majors are lured at once into the market place, where they are greatly in demand as servants of the fast-multiplying family of fast-multiplying computers. Why are they in such demand? There seem to be over 3000 automatic digital computers now installed in the United States, with more on the way. As a rough estimate, each automatic computer-needs to have 10 attendants who serve it as mathematicians-programmers, coders, analysts, supervisors, etc. The resulting requirement for 30,000 computer mathematicians should be compared with the combined membership of the American Mathematical Society, Mathematical Association of America, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Mathematical Sta. tistics, and American Statistical Association-under 20,000 persons. While some makeshift arrangements are possible, the disparity in numbers is creating the unprecedented demand (and salary) for the new A.B. in mathematics. It must be noted as a digression that as a practitioner of mathematics, the new A.B. is not in a strong position, despite industry's demand for him. He